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Lease Terminated After Marine Park Links Linked To The Mob A little less than a year after the city Department of Parks leased the Marine Park Golf Course to East Coast Golf, the agency decided to revoke the license to operate the municipal facility due to the firm's alleged ties to organized crime. In a letter to East Coast Golf released Monday, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe wrote that the termination of the nearly $10 million 20-year lease was "for the convenience of the city." The company was order-ed to vacate the premises within 30 days and leave it in "as good condition as they found it." Parks Deptartment spokesperson Warner Johnston subsequently issued a statement that read in part, "After consultation with the Department of Investigations, the Parks Department has determined that it is in the best interest of the city to terminate the current concession agreement at Marine Park golf course and re-bid it." The Parks Department took action less than a month after the city's Department of Investigations linked the municipal links operator to the mob. City Controller William Thomp-son targeted East Coast Golf, which is based in the Brooklyn Terminal Market on Foster Avenue, after his office found it reputedly had ties to organized crime. The controller commended the city for canceling the lease, but criticized the Parks Department for not following protocol by allowing his office to scrutinize the contract before it was confirmed. In a letter Thompson sent to the Parks Department in early January, he wrote that the information uncovered "gives rise to numerous integrity concerns." A January 4 article in the Daily News reported that the owner of East Coast was listed as Domenick Logozzo, who was financially connected to Colombo crime family soldier Craig Marino, according to federal prosecutors. Logozzo's attorney, Peter Sullivan, told the News that his client broke no laws and that he only knows Marino because they come from the same Brooklyn neighborhood, adding, "They didn't do anything wrong." East Coast began operating the municipal course last April. Shortly thereafter the Courier planned on do-ing a feature in conjunction with it's scheduled grand opening a month later, but shelved the proposal when the owner refused to respond to numerous calls from our reporter seeking information. The challenging 72-par, 6,600-yard Marine Park golf course at 2880 Flatbush Avenue, southwest of Canar-sie, off Belt Parkway Exit 11N, is the longest in the city and opened nearly 40 years ago. Golfers are said to enjoy its plush greens, but not the rrobust winds blowing off nearby Jam-aica Bay, which can make it troublesome for some, and can take up to five hours to play all 18 holes on busy weekends A Parks Department spokesperson had no information on the course's immediate future nor when bids would begin for a new operator. Linda Steinmuller contributed to this article.
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